Leamington is a municipality in Essex County, Ontario, Canada. With a population of 28,403, it is the second largest municipality in the Windsor-Essex County area (after the separated municipality of Windsor, Ontario). It includes Point Pelee, the southernmost point of mainland Canada.

Known as the "Tomato Capital of Canada", it was until 2014 the location of a Heinz Company tomato processing factory. Due to its location in the southernmost part of Canada, Leamington uses the motto "Sun Parlour of Canada".

Leamington was incorporated as a village in 1876. The community was named after Royal Leamington Spa in England, after having originally been called "Gainesville".[4] It was a crossroads hamlet with about 300 residents and was known for its lumber products rather than its tomatoes. There were several docks, and fish were plentiful in Lake Erie, so much so that sturgeon could be speared from the shore and fish was the cheapest food available. Leamington once had many tobacco farms but now they are virtually nonexistent. In 1908 the H. J. Heinz company came to Leamington, bringing many jobs to the area and contributing to Leamington's growth.

In the early hours of Sunday, June 6, 2010, an F1 tornado ripped through portions of southern Essex County, stretching from Harrow, through Kingsville, to southern Leamington before dissipating near Point Pelee National Park, creating considerable damage, but no loss of life or any direct injuries.[5]

According to the Canada 2011 Census there were 28,403 people living in Leamington. The Leamington Census agglomeration (metro area) includes Kingsville. Leamington is the most populous city on the Canadian side of Lake Erie, with a slightly larger population than both Fort Erie and Port Colborne.

The majority of people from Leamington speak English. According to the 2006 census, 16,915 speak English only, 8460 male and 8460 female. Around 600 people speak French due to the French school, 10,840 speak other languages such as German, Spanish and Arabic, and 45 speak English and French.[8]

Residents of Leamington include a population of Lebanese, Portuguese and Italian. Mennonite settlers have also increased the size of the population.

According to a 2006 survey 19,365 people are not immigrants while 7,485 are immigrants or migrants. The majority of migrants come from Mexico and Jamaica and are employed as seasonal farm workers through the Temporary foreign worker program in Canada. According to the census, Leamington had the highest percentage of Latin Americans in Canada, with 4.9%.[8]

Leamington has been known for its tourism and attractions and is known as the tomato capital of Canada. Leamington's attractions include cycle paths and nearby Point Pelee National Park. Leamington also has a large and modern marina. On June 6, 2010, a tornado[9] passed through Leamington, Ontario, damaging various important landmarks in the town including the Marina. The town's water tower, visible for miles in the flat southern Ontario landscape, is also in the shape and colour of a giant tomato. Celebrating its position as an agricultural powerhouse and its heritage as the H. J. Heinz Company's centre for processing "red goods," the city hosts a "Tomato Festival" each August, as a kickoff of the tomato-harvesting season. Car shows, beauty pageants, parades, and a fair are featured at the festival.

Leamington's position on the north shore of Lake Erie makes it an important recreational centre.[citation needed] The tourist information booth in the centre of town is a large fiberglasstomato.

Leamington has several parks including Seacliff Park, The Marina Park, Mersea Park and Garrison Gardens,Henry Park and Chestnut Park.

Leamington is also home to Point Pelee National Park, which contains the southernmost point on mainland Canada and draws thousands of visitors annually and is also home to one of the largest migrations of Monarch butterflies annually.

Tomatoes being transported in Leamington. The smoke stack of the former Heinz processing factory can be seen in the distance.

Known as the tomato capital of Canada, Leamington became the home of the H. J. Heinz factory in 1908. The Heinz products are shipped from Leamington, with English and French labels, mostly to the United States. Ketchup and baby food are the main products. In November 2013 Heinz announced that it would close the Leamington plant in 2014, meaning job losses for 740 employees at the plant and hundreds more support workers.[10]

Leamington has also been known for its greenhouses, and now has the largest concentration of commercial greenhouses in all of North America, with 1,969 acres (797 ha) of greenhouse vegetable production in the general area.[11] Major products of the greenhouse industry, in addition to tomatoes, are peppers, cucumbers, roses, and other flowers. Hydroponic farming has been very successfully adopted by many greenhouse operators in Leamington. Historically, tobacco was an important crop in the area, but tobacco production declined in the 1960s and today is virtually nonexistent.

Leamington's weekly newspaper is the Southpoint Sun. The weekly newspaper that was Leamington Post ceased operations in 2012 after 138 years in publication. Leamington is home to two regional commercial radio stations. Mix 96.7FM was originally known as CJSP and was on 710 on the AM dial, having signed on the air on February 17, 1955. In 2008, a second radio station with the call-sign of CJSP signed on at 92.7 FM as a country music station. A community television station, CFTV channel 34, launched in 2006. CFTV-TV is on channel 100 on Cogecodigital cable (having been moved from channel 79 to 100).

Aspects of the fictional town of Port Ticonderoga in The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (including street names, demographics and a store name) appear to have been derived from Leamington. Atwood is a part-time resident of Pelee Island, which is accessed by ferry from Leamington.

Leamington has six public elementary schools, Margaret D. Bennie, Mill Street, Queen Elizabeth, Gore Hill, Mount Carmel - Blytheswood Public School and East Mersea. Leamington has two Catholic elementary schools: Queen of Peace and Saint Louis. Leamington also has one French speaking Catholic School, St. Michel. South Shore Christian School is a private elementary school located in Leamington. Leamington has two main school boards the Greater Essex County District School Board and the Windsor-Essex Catholic School Board.